If you listen to nothing else, please listen to this. There will be a run-off Senate election on Dec 10th in Louisiana, and the Democrats have a shot at winning. If they could get that one seat, it would flip the Senate 51-49 in their favor, and keep the GOP from having complete control of Congress. This is HUGE. This is whether or not SCOTUS Judges get approved, whether or not Bills get passed.
That thing going around about pressuring electors to name Clinton President over Trump is never going to happen. Ever. But this is a thing that actually could. If you know anybody who knows anybody who lives in Louisiana, pressure them to vote for Foster Campbell. Pay for their cab to the polls! Hell, donate to their campaign! This is not fear mongering or hyperbole when I say this last race is life or death for millions of people.
Democrats have one final shot to flip a Senate seat – but in order to pull off an upset, they need to quickly rally around the Louisiana candidate whose victory could be a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year. Public Service Commissioner – and jovial cattle farmer – Foster Campbell will face off against Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy, a twice-failed Senate candidate, in a Dec. 10 runoff.
On the surface, it might seem like a lost cause: A Democrat running a statewide campaign in Louisiana in the Year of Trump. On the contrary, though, Campbell has a legitimate shot to upset his opponent the same way Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards did in 2015. Yes, Louisiana has a Democratic governor. He’s busy at the moment cleaning up the fiscal mess left by his predecessor, failed presidential candidate and Kenneth-the-Page avatar Bobby Jindal.
Edwards pulled off an upset in part because of Jindal’s failures, and in part because he ran against, a less-than-charismatic politician tainted by a bygone prostitution scandal. But Edwards prevailed not only as an anti-Jindal and anti-Vitter. As an Army veteran with family law enforcement ties and a calm demeanor, he was a strong candidate in his own right.
Campbell, too, is a good bet; he has a wicked sense of humor and speaks plainly. During a recent debate, he rebutted false allegations of ties to ex-KKK leader David Duke, saying, “I have nothing in common with David Duke other than we’re probably breathing.”
Democrats who feel frustrated, fearful, and angry following Donald J. Trump’s upset win, listen up: Go donate $5 to Campbell’s campaign. If you’re in Louisiana, vote for him on Dec. 10. If you know someone in Louisiana, spread the word. Help raise money and awareness for Campbell.
Electing Foster Campbell is the most immediate way to rebuke President-elect Trump. A Campbell victory would mean a 51-49 split in the Senate. This is the last best way to make a difference in 2016.
Campbell is a fighter. During his career, he’s fought for ethics reform, lower energy rates for rural consumers, and for victims of domestic violence. Guided by a love of family and a deep-seated faith, he fights for the little man – and woman.
He can win. Repeat that over and over until you take action. The national Republican apparatus is gearing up to defeat him, and you can make a difference.
Campbell is a man of the people; Kennedy is counting on the elite. This year alone, he was the beneficiary of $400,000 from a political action committee funded by one Chicago family.
Campbell doesn’t have a Chicago sugar daddy; he has gumption. Fight for Foster.
For the man or woman who has everything, donations can make a great gift. Instead of another fondue pot or a gift card, you can give money to their favorite charity in their name. What you can’t do is give them the tax deduction for the donation. The IRS says someone can deduct contributions he makes to charity, not contributions someone else makes.
So YOU will get the deduction. Pence will get a nice thank-you note from Planned Parenthood.
Yep, from having done this MANY MANY times when I worked for a nonprofit. The honoree just gets a lovely note saying that a donation was made in their name. The donor gets the tax receipt.
OH THIS IS PERFECT.
reblogging again for clarification of the tax credit
I was curious about this.
Making violently homophobic anti-abortion crackers mad is tax deductible yall.
I
just stumbled into a prime example of a local action I could take that
matters right this instant. This afternoon @thedeadparrot tweeted a link
to an article about a Boston city councilor who yesterday expressed his
desire to make Boston a “sanctuary city” immigrants, i.e. defy Trump
& co. by barring local law
enforcement from initiating or participating in deportation actions.
I
googled the City Council’s phone number, called, and got put through to
an aide right away. Here follows an illuminating conversation:
Me:
Hi, my name is [Stulti]; I’m a resident of [neighborhood]. I just read
in the Herald that Tito Jackson wants to make Boston a sanctuary for
immigrants. I’m calling to express my support. Aide, choking a little: Support?? Me: Yes, I want Boston to do everything possible to protect immigrants, documented or not. Aide: You’re actually the first person to call in support of that. Me: Really? Aide: It’s been a rough day. Me: Oh, jeez. Well, I hope it improves. I feel very strongly about this issue. Aide: Thank you for calling. Me: Thank you. Hang in there. Bye.
Moral
of the story: There are legislators out there right now, trying to get
the damage control in motion. They’re being harangued by, at a guess,
right-wing retirees with nothing better to do. Plug their numbers into
your phones and even the score.
If
no one on your city council has proposed such a measure, call to
suggest it. I’ve been told phoning is best, but if telephones give you
hives, send an email.
The electoral college does not vote until December 19th. We have 40 days.
What does this mean?
Right now, the presidential election results are only a PROJECTION of the election outcome. They are PRELIMINARY RESULTS. A candidate still needs to earn 270 electoral votes to win. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than 50% of the voters wanted her for president. The electoral college shouldn’t guarantee an override of the public’s opinion– and it doesn’t have to.
There are 21 states that do NOT restrict which candidate the electors vote for. Out of these 21, Hillary lost the following:
As you can see, these states are worth 166 electoral votes. As it currently stands, Hillary Clinton is projected to receive 232 votes. Trump is projected to win 306. This means that 37 votes need to be taken away from Trump to bring him down to 269. Hillary Clinton needs 38 votes ADDED to win 270. These electoral voters can also abstain, which means that they can refuse to vote for either candidate. If 37 of the voters within these states abstain then no candidate will have reached the required 270. In this case, the vote would be taken to the House.
Trump won Pennsylvania, a state that typically votes blue, by less than 100,000 votes. While it is highly unlikely to get all 20 electoral voters to cross party lines and vote democrat, it also isn’t impossible to convince a few of them to be “faithless electors.” We only need to convince 38 out of the 166. That is 23%. There are SIXTEEN states we need to focus our attention on.
A move like this would be unprecedented. However, as we all saw on November 8th, odds don’t guarantee reality. Trump had a less than 20% chance of winning, yet given the circumstances, enough people came together and made it happen. We can make this happen.
Ask yourself this: What do we have left to lose? We can stay complacent and accept that this country will be run by a racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic, ablest bigot, or we can at least try.
How?
SPREAD THE WORD. Trend #NotMyPresident to let people know that we do not accept being led by a man who does not care about our wellbeing. Email your professors, email the dean of your colleges. The last thing a university wants is negative press. Millenials can take a stand, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. Church-led events helped bring a lot of disillusioned voters to the polls. Spread the word in any way possible, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even in person. Stage a peaceful protest. Hand out flyers. Let the people around you know that you don’t accept this man as your leader when he won’t even accept you as a citizen with your designated rights.
These 166 people need to face the consequences of electing this man.
Do this for the people who couldn’t vote. Do this for the people who live in the very real fear of being deported. Do this for the people who will have to face the rise in hate crimes. Do this for the people who have a very real possibility of losing their rights. Do this for the people who will no longer be able to afford necessities.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Is this possible?
Yes, I wouldn’t have made the post without doing my research. Read the following paragraphs, taken from archives.gov:
Are there restrictions on who the Electors can vote for?
There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states. Some states, however, require Electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. (The 16 states listed above do NOT restrict their electors to this rule.) These pledges fall into two categories—Electors bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that Electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties’ nominees. Some state laws provide that so-called “faithless Electors” may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court has not specifically ruled on the question of whether pledges and penalties for failure to vote as pledged may be enforced under the Constitution. No Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.
Can Hillary still receive votes from the electoral college even though she’s conceded?
Think about it, Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election. All of the electoral voters didn’t immediately vote for President Obama the second he conceded. The election still ended up being 332 votes to 206. Not 538 unanimous votes for Barack Obama.
“For starters, it doesn’t matter if a losing candidate concedes, as far as the Electoral College process goes, according to Amy Bunk, director of legal affairs and policy at the Office of the Federal Register, among other experts.”
Conceding does not take a candidate’s name off of the ballot that the electoral voters see. In the past, “faithless electors” have voted for the projected losing candidate, or even voted third party.
Concession really only means acceptance of the PROJECTED outcome. This does not mean that the actual outcome cannot be different from the projected outcome. Please keep this in mind.
HERE ARE THE ELECTORS YOU CAN BE CONTACTING
ARIZONA (9 Electors): J. Foster Morgan of Glendale, Walter Begay Jr. of Kayenta, Bruce Ash of Tucson, Sharon Giese of Mesa, James O’Connor of Scottsdale, Jerry Hayden of Scottsdale, Robert Graham of Phoenix, Edward Robson of Phoenix, Carole Joyce of Phoenix, Alberto Gutier of Phoenix, Jane Pierpoint Lynch of Phoenix
ARKANSAS (6 Electors): Jonathan Barnett, Jonelle Fulmer, Keith Gibson, Tommy Land, John Nabholz, Sharon R. Wright
GEORGIA (16 Electors): Not Listed, previous reports of a likely faithless elector
INDIANA (11 Electors): Stephanie Beckley, Jamestown; Daniel Bortner, Bedford; Laura Campbell, Carmel; Jeff Cardwell, Indianapolis; Donald L. Hayes, Jasper; Randall Kirkpatrick, Ligonier; Ethan E. Manning, Indianapolis; Macy Kelly Mitchell, Indianapolis; Edwin J. Simcox, Muncie; Fishers Kevin Steen, Muncie; Chuck Williams, Valparaiso
IOWA (6 Electors): Not Listed
KANSAS (6 Electors): Not Listed
KENTUCKY (8 Electors): Not Listed
LOUISIANA (8 Electors, includes alternates): Chris Trahan, Candy Maness, Lloyd Harsh, Jennifer Madsen, Charles Buckels, Christian Gil, Louis Avalone, Constance Diane Long, Kay Kellogg Katz, Verne Breland, Lennie Rhys, Glenda Pollard, Garret Monti, Scott Wilfong, John Batt, Raymond Griffin
MISSOURI (10 Electors, missing 2): Tim Dreste, Jan DeWeese, Hector Maldonado, Sherry Kuttenkuler, Casey Crawford, Tom Brown, Cherry Warren, Scott Clark
TEXAS (38 Electors): Marty Rhymes, Thomas Moon, Carol Sewell, John Harper, Sherrill Lenz, Nicholas Ciggelakis, Will Hickman, Landon Estay, Rex Lamb, Rosemary Edwards, Matt Stringer, Shellie Surles, Melissa Kalka, Sandra Cararas, David Thackston, Robert Bruce, Margie Forster, Scott Mann, Marian K. Stanko, Tina Gibson, Ken Muenzter, Alexander Kim, Virginia Abel, John Dillard, Tom Knight, Marian Knowlton, Rex Teter, Stephen Suprun Jr., Jon Jewett, Susan Fischer, Lauren Byers, William Greene, Mary Lou Erben, Arthur Sisneros
WEST VIRGINIA (5 Electors, missing 1): Ron Foster, Patrick Morrissey, Ann Urling, Mac Warner
SOURCE. If anyone can find information on those not listed, please let me know.
ALSO a friendly reminder that a concession is not set in stone, and can be reversed:
“…a spoken concession does not necessarily deny a candidate office if there is a drastic reversal in the vote count…
It is exceedingly rare for a concession, once issued, to be retracted; BUT such an event occurred in the United States 2000 presidential election, when Democratic candidate Al Gore, Jr. telephoned RepublicanGeorge W. Bush to concede the contest. Gore was apparently unaware of the close vote count in the state of Florida, and when he realized it, he proceeded to cancel his concession address.”
#NotMyPresident T-Shirts If interested, order closes on November 23rd. Prices are $20, and orders will be shipped directly to your address. All proceeds go directly to Planned Parenthood, an organization likely to be defunded under a Trump presidency. Link HERE.
I’ve already tweeted about this but here’s a longer post for all naturalized citizens especially those who have been visibly marked a “other” and aren’t part of the “again” when Trump says that he’s making America great “again.”
(All of you sad white liberals can suck it up, buttercups, because some of us have some real work to do to prove that we belong here before President-elect Trump is sworn in. The stuff that applies to you is at the end.)
Trump took the support of white suburban women, those are also the types of women who want to adopt foreign children like they’re some kind of charitable, exotic vase. This does not mean they will necessarily ensure citizenship for their adopted children. For foreign adoptees who were 18 by 2000, you are not covered under the current Child Citizenship Act (2000). If you do not have proof of naturalization and even though you were raised here your entire life, you can be deported:
“Korean American Adoptee Faces Unjust Deportation” (Angry Asian Man, 10/27/2016)
“A South Korean Man Adopted By Americans Prepares for Deportation” (NYT 11/1/2016)
This brings me to the point of my post: naturalized citizens, get proof of citizenship while Obama is still president. Naturalized citizens can use two documents to prove their citizenship: a U.S. passport and a Certificate of Naturalization (N-550, N-750).
U.S. Passport info:
Routine processing for a new passport typically takes 4-5 weeks and there is an expedited processing option (2-3).
Here is a PDF of fees to apply for a new passport or renew your old one: U.S. Passport Fees
Now, onto the Certificate of Naturalization:
The Certificate of U.S. Naturalization (form N-550 or N-570) is a document issued by United States government as proof of a person having obtained U.S. citizenship through naturalization (a legal process of obtaining a new nationality). The Certificate of U.S. Naturalization has been issued since October 1, 1991 by the USCIS, and on or before September 30, 1991 by Federal Courts and particular State Courts. The United States Certificate of Naturalization is proof of an individual’s U.S. citizenship through naturalization. Only naturalized United States citizens can apply for a Certificate of U.S. Naturalization. If you are not a United States citizen, you must first apply for US citizenship.
These were apparently issued in 1991 so the yellowed certificate of my citizenship from the 1980s on yellowing, delicate paper might not cut it. I am applying for a new certificate of naturalization but not before I scan both sides of it and find a notary to sign something that says they saw it.
The fee for another copy of Certificate of Naturalization: $345
Trans* naturalized citizens, you can request a new Certificate of Naturalization due to a legal change in gender. Will this change under a Trump presidency? Who knows? Who wants to risk it?
I saw a lot of white people who were SO SHOCKED and SO SURPRISED their fellow white people voted for Trump. I saw tweets about “hurting” for their friends who were women, immigrant, minority, trans, queer – and god help us if you fall into more than one of those categories. That’s not even to mention the undocumented and those on work or school visas – immigration has a lot of fucking narratives and its time you start realizing that.
So, do you want to help? Here are two ways to start helping your immigrant friends.
First, you can help your naturalized friends by getting their paperwork and money in order: planning, finding a translator, helping with gathering paperwork and looking over their paperwork before its submitted; lending emotional support, accompanying them to immigration services and/or other appointments. Take some of that #ImWithHer sentiments that led you to donate to Hillary’s campaign and buy “nasty women” t-shirts and give your friends cold hard cash so they have proof of citizenship either in the form of a U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization.
Second, you can start writing your senator and pressuring them to support of bill S.2275 – Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2015 introduced by Sen. Am Klobuchar (D-MN) designed to prevent the kind of tragedy facing Adam Crapsner in the stories linked above:
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to grant automatic citizenship to all qualifying children adopted by a U.S. citizen parent, regardless of the date on which the adoption was finalized.
An individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by a U.S. citizen parent shall automatically become a U.S. citizen when the following conditions have been fulfilled:
the individual was adopted by a U.S. citizen before the individual reached age 18,
the individual was physically present in the United States in the citizen parent’s legal custody pursuant to a lawful admission before the individual reached age 18,
the individual never acquired U.S. citizenship before the enactment of this Act, and
the individual was lawfully residing in the United States on the date of enactment of this Act.
An individual who meets such criteria, except for lawfully residing in the United States on the date of enactment of this Act, shall automatically become a U.S. citizen on the date on which the individual is physically present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission.
I’d also like to add that it’s a good idea to at least consider having certified copies of any citizenship documents made if you can, and at least photocopies too. Try to have someone you trust hold on to a copy, someone who lives in a different household.
We know someone who has had their paper copy of their documents destroyed and were deported. Thankfully because they had American born family members who were in a position to fight for them, they were eventually able to return…with no real follow up for what they had suffered.
Angela Merkel just said she’ll offer Donald Trump cooperation, on the basis that he respects people’s dignity no matter the place of birth, colour of their skin, beliefs, their sex, sexuality or their political convictions.
So….I guess germany and the us just broke up?
Merkel basically said “Cut your racist and sexist bullshit and then maybe I’ll talk to you”.
She’s doing more than that. In the German original she speaks of the Würde des Menschen – The dignity of man. That’s the first line of the German constitution:
Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar- The dignity of man is inviolable.
She’s literally throwing the book at him and reminding him she’ll only work with him on the terms of the constitution.
I mean, I disagree with her on quite a few things, but I’m very happy with her response.
Steel Phoenix Studios 